December 8th 2024.
XDefiant – just another failure to add to the ever-growing list. As a reader, I can't help but worry about the direction publishers like Sony and Ubisoft are heading in. It seems like they are so fixated on trying to emulate the success of Fortnite and other live service games that they are blind to the potential harm they are causing to themselves and the industry as a whole.
While some may criticize Sony for their lack of recent announcements and Xbox for their perceived cluelessness, I believe the real issue is much deeper. It seems that in the past few years, these companies have shattered any illusion that they know what they're doing. Their sole focus is on short-term gains and making as much money as possible, with little regard for the long-term health of the industry.
It's no secret that these companies prioritize profits above all else, but what's truly shocking is their lack of concern for the overall state of the gaming industry. They would rather let it burn down than make any effort to do something that doesn't directly benefit them. It's not just short-sightedness, it's outright negligence. Take Sony for example, who stopped making games and then wondered why their console sales were declining.
Instead of addressing the issue of rising game development costs, these companies simply stop making games and lay off hundreds of employees. They replace talented artists with AI, but never think to do the same with their out-of-touch CEOs. In short, they consistently make the worst possible decisions and never seem to learn from their mistakes.
This brings us to the topic of live service games. It's been seven years since Fortnite Battle Royale took the gaming world by storm, and yet publishers still haven't grasped the fact that copying its success is no easy feat. Despite numerous failed attempts, they continue to try and replicate its success, often with uninspired copies of existing games instead of innovating with something new.
Just this week, we saw XDefiant, FoamStars, and Concord all throw in the towel. These companies spent years and hundreds of employees working on these games, but no one stopped to question whether they were actually appealing to players. And this is not a new problem, as many have pointed out before, yet it seems to have never occurred to anyone in the upper echelons of these publishers.
I can only imagine that these executives and bosses have dollar signs in their eyes, blinding them to the reality of how difficult it is to create a successful live service game. It's madness that has not only affected their own companies, but is also damaging the industry as a whole. Sony wasted most of this console generation on live service games and it will take them years to recover, even with their recent course correction.
And let's not forget about Ubisoft, who are now in talks with Tencent and seeing their bargaining power diminish with every failed attempt at a live service game. It's a dangerous obsession that is not only ruining these companies, but also the industry itself. When there are fewer independent third-party publishers left, we'll look back and realize the damage that was done in the pursuit of creating the next Fortnite.
It's a worrying trend, and I fear where it will all end. It seems that only a financial collapse or another industry crash will be enough to put a stop to this madness. As a reader, I can't help but wonder if any lessons are being learned from these repeated failures. Only time will tell.
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